What are you reading?

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I have been on a major reading kick recently. Last year my wife had a New Years resolution to read 30 books in 2016 that she has never read before. She accomplished that goal and during it I decided to try to do the same. It was wonderful finally reading so many books that I heard such wonderful things about.

Also recently- Val mentioned the book "Ready Player One" by Ernest Cline. I read it a few months ago and loved it! Such a thrilling read. I have also been reading the "Old Man's War" trilogy by John Scalzi- which has been an entertaining read. I read "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" but I wasn't all that interested.

So what have you been reading? What books would you recommend?

Re: What are you reading?

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Definitely read The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. It's his homage to The Lord of the Rings and other epic fantasy stories. And it's even better if you listen to the audio books. I have Roland's revolver as one of my many book tattoos. Ka is a wheel that forever turns! Here is the opening line to entice you:

"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed."

I can give you recommendations for days!

Re: What are you reading?

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You have book tattoos?
Meaning (as you mentioned Roland's revolver) you have tattoos of something from your favorite books?
Or am I missing something here?
(...wouldn't surprise me....I lost my ticket to the 'Land of With-It' a few decades ago...)

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL

Re: What are you reading?

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You aren't missing anything :)

I have 14 tattoos and most of them come from my favorite book series. I have one from The Dark Tower series, three (soon to be five) Harry Potter tattoos, the mark of a pirate from Treasure Island, the tree of Gondor on my back, and various other book inspired stuff. And when my daughter is born this summer, I'm going to get her name tattooed in Elvish, along with her foot prints on my forearm.

Re: What are you reading?

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I am currently reading the fourth book in Orson Scott Card's series of Ender novels (yes, the same Ender's Game that was recently adapted into a movie.) While the first two books were very good, subsequent entries in the series are wearing on me and interest is seriously flagging. There are more books beyond the first four but this last one is taking me so long to get through that I will probably stop there.

I am excited for upcoming entries this year into two of my all time favourite series: Terry Brooks' Shannara world (this will be the last series after nearly two dozen books, all of which I have enjoyed,) and Tad Williams' rich and complex world of Osten Ard, to which he is returning after 30 years. Can't wait. :coolsmile
This Space for Rent

Re: What are you reading?

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jnicktem wrote:Thanks for the suggestions SH! I'll check those out!

Val- how fitting! I just started Ender's Game just last night!
The first one is great ---never read beyond that one--- well-written, really holds your attention.
I know I've read it at least a half dozen times, and maybe a few more times than that.
(Never saw the movie tho'....)

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL

Re: What are you reading?

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Nick, let me know if you like Ender's Game. I have Ender in Exile which is a prequel to the second book, Speaker of the Dead (so in theory is actually the second book, though written many years later) and Ender's Shadow, which is a parallel book to Ender's Game from the perspective of Beam. And by have I mean I have over 50 copies of each. The book club I lead at school read EG and then we got those to dive a bit deeper into the world.

Re: What are you reading?

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The movie was surprisingly good and faithful to the book *cough - are you listening, Mr. Jackson?*, but a few things had to be sacrificed to the running time. Still, everything that matters is in there.

I didn't know there were in-between books but I'm not surprised. Perhaps some of the titles I thought were books that land later in the chronology are actually some of these? I'm really trying to make an effort to remain interested but Card's writing goes off on tangents sometimes and he's created too many characters that he jumps to all over the place.

Really looking forward to the Ready Player One movie. Just hope they get it right as the book was so awesome. I'm just fearful it will fall flat with all the bored millenials out there because it relies so heavily on 80's nostalgia.
This Space for Rent

Re: What are you reading?

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I am currently reading The Knife's Edge, it is the first book in the Ronin Saga. I met and chatted with the author at a comic con in Austin last year. Seemed like a nice young guy, starting writing the book during his grad school days and is currently on the 3rd book in the series.

Overall, its got a decent storyline, he used a few standard fantasy story cliches, but its not too bad. I am enjoying the overall story myself. I will probably continue supporting him by buying at least the 2nd book and seeing where things go.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Re: What are you reading?

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Now that I am *ahem* retired and [theoretically] have more free time, I am reading in several genres, shifting back and forth as the spirit moves me. So...
Shakespeare: King Lear and Merry Wives of Windsor (tragedy and comedy, for balance)
Jane Austen: Mansfield Park (I am a die-hard Austen-ite)
Anthology of Gothic ghost [short] stories
History (barbarian settlement of western Europe in the early Middle Ages, soon after Rome fell... I'm a history major, ASU '96)
What I want to start reading very soon: Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL

Re: What are you reading?

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I finished Enders Game a couple of days ago and liked it well enough to go to Half Price Books to get Speaker of the Dead. About a third of the way through that one now. I've been going through about a book a week recently.

I also picked up a few more books. Up next in my queue is The Last Colony by John Scalzi (last book in his Old Mans War trilogy) and also Armada by Ernest Cline- which sounds like it is the follow up to Ready Player One (follow up- but not a sequel).

Then I have The Gunslinger by Stephen King. :horseback

Re: What are you reading?

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eh im confused ,here .deimos

ther is no barbarian settelment ,threre was a viking culture .ruled in the north .

at the same time , rome came to a fall by the goth.that had surrindind rome ,so no one was able to to come in and out of rome.

all this disaster of the roman impier fall ,maby because of king contantin,converet to cristianity.
he fleet from rome ,and took covet at constantinobel..

alot of interresting story to tell :thumbs_up

Re: What are you reading?

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Just finished reading the Dark Tower series again and wow... Picture a grown man sitting in his car in the school parking lot crying over the ending of one of his favorite book series.

Now that I've finished a slew of Stephen King, I just started Fellowship of the Ring on audio. I really enjoy the songs in this form. So much more than having to read it in the book. Most of the songs I would just skip over, as it became tedious work on subsequent readings. But the audio version is great.

Re: What are you reading?

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am.dk wrote:eh im confused ,here .deimos

ther is no barbarian settelment ,threre was a viking culture .ruled in the north .

at the same time , rome came to a fall by the goth.that had surrindind rome ,so no one was able to to come in and out of rome.

all this disaster of the roman impier fall ,maby because of king contantin,converet to cristianity.
he fleet from rome ,and took covet at constantinobel..

alot of interresting story to tell :thumbs_up
I use the word "barbarian" (Latin: barbarus) in the generic sense.

After the reign of Caesar Augustus the Romans used it to refer to all foreigners among Romans including the Germanic peoples, Persians, Gauls, Phoenicians and Carthaginians. [emphasis added].
In this case it would include the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Huns and Vandals who invaded the Roman empire at various times between 100-500 AD

And, yes, lots of stories to tell, lots happening... a lifetime is not sufficient for reading even a fraction of it. :'(

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL
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